The General Chat Thread

B0jangles · 29-07-2015 10:26AM

kylith wrote: »

I love beansprouts, but they only ever seem to sell them in massive bags that would take me a month to get through, and they go off about 15 minutes after you open them.

I get mine for a euro a bag in the local asian market; it's still a big enough bag so I do end up eating beansprouts for about 3 days which is about the limit for keeping them usable as far as I can tell.

One trick to keeping them fresher longer is to take the out of the bag and put them in a big bowl of v. cold water and keep them in the fridge. Also removing any fragments or mushy bits and changing the water 1-2 times a day helps too.

rubadub · 29-07-2015 11:32AM

Does anybody grow their own beansprouts. I remember seeing it as a thing for kids to do so must be easy.

wiki says it takes about a week to grow
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bean_sprout

the beer revolu · 29-07-2015 12:37PM

Merkin wrote: »

Thanks for this Beer. Do I need to score them like you would with larger pieces of squid? What oil would you recommend for frying them?

No need to score if they're in rings or strips.
I'd use any neutral tasting oil - sunflower, peanut, grape seed, rice bran etc.
Just not something too flavoured like olive, sesame or rape seed.

Faith · 29-07-2015 07:57PM

BaZmO* wrote: »

Really? I've gotten into making smoothies a lot lately and I always add apples and there's never lumps.

Could just be my blender. I did get it for free from someone who was throwing it out!

BaZmO* · 29-07-2015 08:26PM

Faith wrote: »

Could just be my blender. I did get it for free from someone who was throwing it out!

Well the one I use is new so maybe that's the difference.

confusticated · 29-07-2015 10:35PM

I used to get beansprouts in the English Market and you could buy them loose. Not sure if you still can.

Made a chocolate and beetroot cake tonight...not sure about it, I know carrot cake doesn't taste like carrots, but this smells a bit beetrooty.

IvyTheTerrible · 30-07-2015 07:02AM

In France, you can get small tins of beansprouts (the same size as those mini tins of sweetcorn). I find it's the perfect amount for a single meal. Maybe they are available in Ireland somewhere?

dibkins · 30-07-2015 11:21AM

I will eat at least half a bag of beansprouts myself if i make them. I love the things! I have sometimes just stirfried a full bag with a little pork, onion, pepper and aromatics. The tinned ones i remember as being terrible, but i really dislike tinned corn as well.

the beer revolu · 30-07-2015 11:49AM

Tinned or jarred beansprouts are slimey , stringy awfulness. Nothing like fresh.

MissFlitworth · 30-07-2015 11:52AM

We got a jar o'sprouts from Lidl yesterday. I had high hopes but they were, unfortunately, a bit grim. If someone is doing a protest for 'bags of beansprouts that won't take a full week to eat through' I'll help with the signs.

Kovu · 30-07-2015 01:34PM

What I do with fresh beansprouts (or bagged salad/stir fry mix I find in the reduced section:pac:) is remove it from the plastic if I have a container to fit it in, pick out any slimy or odd bits and put a couple of pieces of kitchen towel in with it to soak up any extra moisture that would cause them to go slimy faster.

Even with bagged lettuce/rocket I just fold up a piece and put one each side of the bag. Always keeps for much longer.

rubadub · 30-07-2015 02:03PM

MissFlitworth wrote: »

We got a jar o'sprouts from Lidl yesterday.

I saw those yesterday too. They must be heat treated or treated in some other way to stop them going off.

Woodies do the seeds
http://www.woodiesdiy.com/Product/sprouting-seeds-mung-bean/35778/4.36.1

tesco do 500g bags, I wonder if they would sprout?
http://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=256530738

this seems to suggest they might
http://www.instructables.com/id/Sprouting-your-own-Sprouts/

Here are some dry mung beans I got at an Indian grocery store for $1 a pound or so. The broken ones won't sprout, but the others will. M

the beer revolu · 30-07-2015 05:34PM

rubadub wrote: »

I saw those yesterday too. They must be heat treated or treated in some other way to stop them going off.

Woodies do the seeds
http://www.woodiesdiy.com/Product/sprouting-seeds-mung-bean/35778/4.36.1

tesco do 500g bags, I wonder if they would sprout?
http://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=256530738

this seems to suggest they might
http://www.instructables.com/id/Sprouting-your-own-Sprouts/

Just pick up mung beans anywhere. They will sprout.

In fact any dried beans you buy will sprout. Sprouted chick peas are lovely.

GrahamThomas · 31-07-2015 12:05PM

It's steak night tonight in Chez GrahamThomas, and I'd like to try and make a pan sauce.

I'm thinking of adding some finely minced garlic to the pan after the steaks are done, along with some red wine & rosemary and let it reduce down. Any advice? Should the wine take long to reduce?

BaZmO* · 31-07-2015 12:35PM

GrahamThomas wrote: »

It's steak night tonight in Chez GrahamThomas, and I'd like to try and make a pan sauce.

I'm thinking of adding some finely minced garlic to the pan after the steaks are done, along with some red wine & rosemary and let it reduce down. Any advice? Should the wine take long to reduce?

I never have sauce with steak when I cook it at home. I always just finish it off for the last 30s (off the heat) with a big knob of butter and then baste it with the melted butter.

If I was making a sauce with red wine, I'd leave the steaks to rest and then I'd deglaze the pan with a glug of red wine, turn up the heat, let it reduce for a little bit, then turn down the heat, add some cream and then let it reduce/thicken. You could add some garlic or herbs before the cream to mix it up a bit.

Markcheese · 31-07-2015 12:39PM

GrahamThomas wrote: »

It's steak night tonight in Chez GrahamThomas, and I'd like to try and make a pan sauce.

I'm thinking of adding some finely minced garlic to the pan after the steaks are done, along with some red wine & rosemary and let it reduce down. Any advice? Should the wine take long to reduce?

Garlic burns really easily- add the red wine to the pan while your steaks rest stir it round to get all the bits off the pan - throw in your garlic and rosemary - a glass of wine will be gone in a minute or so - and you won't need much sauce for a couple of steaks

the beer revolu · 31-07-2015 02:16PM

I'd add a bit of stock too.

beertons · 31-07-2015 08:22PM

Bbq champ on utv. Another cooker competition, but it's deadly. Yum yum.

GrahamThomas · 01-08-2015 01:25PM

Thanks for the advice on the pan sauce. When the steaks were resting I added half a glass of wine, half a cup of beef stock, some finely diced rosemary & garlic and black pepper. I let it reduce for about 2 minutes, was very tasty but next time I'll leave it longer in the pan to thicken a bit more

IvyTheTerrible · 01-08-2015 02:50PM

Ok so maybe this is a stupid question, but I hear a lot about resting and how it's important for meat. But how does the meat not go cold?

EITS · 01-08-2015 02:53PM

Cover it loosely in tin foil?

01-08-2015 03:02PM

IvyTheTerrible wrote: »

Ok so maybe this is a stupid question, but I hear a lot about resting and how it's important for me. But how does the meat not go cold?

I've wondered this myself. I do let meat rest, and usually on a pre-warmed plate, with a bit of tinfoil on top, but I must say, it does go cold.

Faith · 01-08-2015 03:07PM

It doesn't really go cold, unless it's a thin piece of meat or it's resting for a really long time. But the idea is that you 'reheat' it with the gravy or sauce anyway.

challengemaster · 01-08-2015 03:11PM

IvyTheTerrible wrote: »

Ok so maybe this is a stupid question, but I hear a lot about resting and how it's important for me. But how does the meat not go cold?

Marko pierre white reckons it's a load of shít and you end up with cold steak / meat. He recommends cooking it for 5 minutes on one side, then turning off the pan about 30s after you flip the steak. Residual heat will finish it off but it will "rest" enough in the pan, and stay warm.

If you can get a hold of Masterchef Australia (s07e55) there's a masterclass at the end of the episode with MPW.

Kovu · 01-08-2015 06:04PM

I rest meat in the oven of our solid fuel cooker. It's never very hot so just allows it to cool to perfect eating temperature.
It's definitely missed in my place in Dublin! So handy for sauces or leaving stock or stew on.

Cedrus · 01-08-2015 06:57PM

the beer revolu wrote: »

No need to score if they're in rings or strips.
I'd use any neutral tasting oil - sunflower, peanut, grape seed, rice bran etc.
Just not something too flavoured like olive, sesame or rape seed.

Rapeseed is about the most neutral oil going, sunflower is rankly perfumed in comparison.

Alun · 01-08-2015 07:03PM

I find the opposite. Sunflower oil tastes very neutral to me, but rapeseed oil has a bit of a mustardy flavour to my taste.

Cedrus · 01-08-2015 08:10PM

Resting meat is only to stop all the juices running out, the fibres are tight when hot and want to push all the liqours out. 5-10 minutes resting will relax them and the meat will be moister when you carve it. As said above, smaller pieces of meat will go cold but joints of meat have the bulk to hold the heat. Of course none of this matters if you cook your meat until it's nearly black and has no moisture anyway (Boeuf a la Irlandaise?).

Cedrus · 01-08-2015 08:35PM

Alun wrote: »

I find the opposite. Sunflower oil tastes very neutral to me, but rapeseed oil has a bit of a mustardy flavour to my taste.

Taste vary and I would put sunflower and rapeseed as the most neutral of all the oils normally available in Ireland, I prefer rapeseed but defer to your taste. However I object to including rapeseed in a list with olive and sesame oil which are strongly flavoured. I love both but Sesame oil is useless for cooking, it burns too quickly and is only useful as a dressing, olive oil can be used for low temperature frying and also as a dressing.

Bizarrely, olive oil will burn in a hot pan, butter will burn in a hot pan, but a mixture of olive oil and butter don't burn??

SarahBeep! · 01-08-2015 09:00PM

Cedrus wrote: »

Taste vary and I would put sunflower and rapeseed as the most neutral of all the oils normally available in Ireland, I prefer rapeseed but defer to your taste. However I object to including rapeseed in a list with olive and sesame oil which are strongly flavoured. I love both but Sesame oil is useless for cooking, it burns too quickly and is only useful as a dressing, olive oil can be used for low temperature frying and also as a dressing.

Bizarrely, olive oil will burn in a hot pan, butter will burn in a hot pan, but a mixture of olive oil and butter don't burn??

AFAIK the butter stops the oil from splattering and the oil stops the butter from burning!

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